“Music is comprised of traditions, even when mixed with innovations,” Gregory says, “so, of course, every musician is building upon sounds that came before. I admire and respect those jazz guitarists and I learned a lot from them.”

Serving as the musical director for The Ballads, Natural Four and Jesse James he also recorded with Martha Reeves, MC Smoothe and Freddie Stewart and has performed onstage with Rodney Franklin, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Gerald Albright, Lenny Williams (Tower of Power), Freda Payne, The Dells, and Lowell Fulsom.

Lloyd started his solo career with the smooth jazz albums Wonderful in 1992 and Only For You in 1999. The third album Solo Guitar (2001) presented his acoustic guitar side performing jazz standards. With Free Fallin (2003) he returned to the smooth jazz style. Gentle Warrior (2011) is Lloyd’s fifth album and the first on Stanley Clarke’s label Roxboro Entertainment Group.